The Last Rose of Summer
by Lenihan
Summary: A story about Aya and Keiko, who slowly fall in love with each other. And that all while they have to try to get away from the fantasy world they're in. COMPLETED!
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Weiß Kreuz. They all belong to Project Weiß and Takehito Koyasu. I also don't own Hashishita Keiko, she is an original character from Chisha. I only borrow her for this story with her permission. As last, I also didn't write the song, it belongs to _Clannad_.

**Author's Note:** I had found the song _The Last Rose of Summer_ somewhere and when I read the lyrics, I had to think immediately of Aya. That's what caused me to write the story. I only didn't have an idea with who I had to pair up Aya, so I asked that to Chisha and she said as a joke I had to write one with Keiko. I only thought it was a good idea. Sometimes, jokes can be a good idea as well. ^_^

**Warnings:** Original character is paired up with Aya, heterosexual relationships

**Pairing:** Aya/Keiko

_Gift-fiction for Chisha, because she always corrects my mistakes and because I was allowed to use her character._

**T H E   L A S T   R O S E   O F   S U M M E R**

_'Tis the last rose of summer,   
Left blooming alone.   
All her lovely companions   
Are faded and gone.   
No flow'r of her kindred,   
No rosebud is nigh,   
To reflect back her blushes   
Or give sigh for sigh.   
  
_

**Chapter One**

_"It was summer, the day it all happened. It was the day before Aya-chan's sixteenth birthday. She was looking forward to it, and so was I. I loved my younger sister, who knew how to charm me and who always cheered me up. She had a habit of pouting whenever she didn't get what she wanted and which I didn't mind. It made her only more loveable._

_Demo, that day was the day my whole life turned upside down. It was that day I lost everyone I cared about. I came back with Aya-chan from a festival. We were looking for a present for her. Water dripped on the floor as I quickly closed the door. It was raining again, though the weather forecast had promised a sunny day tomorrow._

_A high yell from my sister got my attention and I quickly ran to her, asking what was wrong. She pointed into the room, unable to speak. In the room lay my father and mother, unconscious, with a bomb ominously ticking. It took me less than a second to understand what was going on and what I had to do. No matter what happened, I had to protect my sister._

_'Quickly, Aya, run!' With those words, I pushed her towards safety, just a few seconds before the bomb exploded._

_All intelligence vanished when the house collapsed on me. All I could think of was the pain throughout my body and that at least my sister was safe. Or that was what I assumed._

_She stood only a few yards away from what had been once our house, frightened and frozen to the ground. From the corner of my eyes, I saw the bright light of a car. I opened my mouth to warn her, to tell her to run away, but only a faint whisper passed over my lips, not hard enough for her to hear it. _

_I heard the sickening sound of bones breaking as the car hit her. I watched her helplessly as she flew through the air and listened how more bones broke when she fell on the ground. _

_Even though my brains refused to think, I knew one thing for sure. This hadn't been an accident. This had been done on purpose. I only failed to understand who wanted us dead._

_I lost my conscious soon after that without realising I was the only one left. It was after the doctors told me the chances for Aya-chan to wake up were minimal, I knew what it was to be left alone. It was that moment I stopped living as Fujimiya Ran, the happy son of the banker Fujimiya, and started living as Fujimiya Aya, who only lived to take revenge for my family."_

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Aya-kun? Aya-kun! Wake up, you sleepyhead!" Before him stood Hashishita Keiko, the only female member of Weiß. She stood slightly bent forward with a concerned look on her face as she looked at him.

Aya blinked, trying to remember what he had been doing before dozing off. Dozing off? He had been dozing off?! He tried to suppress a blush as he pushed Keiko away from him and straightened his back. He ignored the hurt look on her face and concentrated on the flowers scattered on the table before him.

That was right, he had been doing flower arrangements, as usual. From the five members of Weiß, he was the best in doing flower arrangements. As Omi had once commented, 'It's like there's some magic around them, Aya-kun.' The kid would probably be right. He didn't know. But he liked to do it anyway, even if they were horrible enough to scare even the demons out of hell. With flower arrangements, he was able to create his own world, to tell others how he really felt.

He suddenly became aware of four pairs of eyes looking at him and he looked up with a faint glare on his face. "What?" he demanded of the others. Omi promptly started snickering, which seemed to trigger of some chain reaction among the others since Ken chuckled as well, Yohji smirked and Keiko smiled, though her eyes were alight with some inner fun.

"Had a tough time last night, Aya?" the tall blond asked him as his smirk broadened to a huge grin. "Tell me, was she good?"

Aya would swear to see Keiko's expression darken for a second, but he was too busy glaring at Yohji to notice it. "I'm not like you, Kudou," he replied stiffly, returning to his flower arrangements.

"I know. If you were me, you wouldn't fall asleep during the day," Yohji smirked. Omi got a laughing fit of that, almost rolling over the floor. Ken soon followed Omi's example, then Keiko. Only Yohji managed to keep smirking as he leaned towards the redhead. "Don't worry, we're glad to know you're still human after all."

"I did not have sex, as you are implying," Aya managed to say through clenched teeth. Without knowing it, he crushed the stem of a rose as he got up and glared dangerously at the blonde. Yohji managed to look back for ten seconds before turning his head away to avoid looking into those piercing amethyst eyes.

A tense silence fell in the shop, as the three remaining members of Weiß watched the exchange of anger and hatred between the two oldest members. 

"As you say, almighty leader," Yohji finally mockingly said. "I leave the conclusions and that sort of things to you. After all, that's what you are here for, right?"

Aya chose not to answer that, but slowly sank down on the chair again, keeping an eye on the other. Yohji turned away from him and started to pay attention to the female customers. While remaining silent, Aya continued working on the flower arrangement he had been busy with. 

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Hashishita Keiko, eighteen years old and for some reason the only female among Weiß, glanced at the redhead. It had all been meant as a small joke, something you could laugh at. But somehow it turned out as a huge disaster, with once again Aya and Yohji hating each other. This was not what she had meant when she woke up the leader of Weiß. 

"Do you think Aya-kun's angry with us now?" she asked timidly to Omi, the youngest of all and her best friend.

Omi took a look at Aya, who had his back turned towards the rest of the shop and shook his head. "I don't think so. You know Aya-kun, he's just a bit annoyed about Yohji. I bet that at the end of the day, he's the Aya-kun again we all know." Omi smiled at her. "Don't worry, Kei-chan. He won't be angry with you."

She felt her cheeks turning red and she gave Omi a friendly push. "I'm not worried about that. It's more that… what if Manx comes and we have a mission tonight?"

"Then Aya-kun'll be there, as well as Yohji-kun. They care too much about us 'kids' to walk away from any mission, just because they've had an argument again."

Keiko nodded slightly, knowing her friend was right. Even though Yohji was sometimes a bit unreliable, he always showed up for the missions, because he didn't like the idea of having friends being hurt. And Aya just always had been there, taking the lead, making decision, and always making sure no one got hurt. She only didn't agree with the 'being kids' part. After all, she was only two years younger than Aya and four years younger than Yohji! She was hardly a kid anymore!

She sighed and turned back to her work, gazing at the hordes of schoolgirls, all around fifteen years old, swarming into the little flower shop. The only reason why they came was because of the four boys working in the flower shop. And no one, of course, had any interest in her. She was just a girl. She wasn't even good-looking, like the rest of Weiß. She was a nothing, just good enough to do the little jobs like cleaning the floor and moving the flowerpots. 

"Keiko?"

She started when she heard Aya's voice. He almost never called her name, especially not when he was in a bad mood. She turned around and gazed at his back.

"H-Hai?"

"If you've got nothing to do, you can help with the flower arrangements," he stated quietly, not even taking his eyes off his work.

Keiko hesitated for a moment. Sure there was work enough for her to do. It had more to do that she didn't want to stand among all those girls, watching them gathering around either Omi, Ken or Yohji and only using her to get information about the four boys. She didn't really mind doing flower arrangements with Aya, as long as he wasn't angry or irritated.

"I guess I'll have to do that then," she replied a bit nervously, moving reluctantly towards the table where Aya was working. The redhead did not look up, but continued his with his work as she slowly sank down on the free chair. She took a look at the flowers scattered over the table and at the flower arrangement he had been working on. Like all the flower arrangements before, this one was simply breathtaking and beautiful. Just as to be expected from Aya. Now it was her turn to create one as well.

She picked up a few flowers and put them a bit clumsily together. She knew how to do it, but her silent partner at the other sight of the table scared her to death and she was feeling just a trifle too nervous. And it was her nervousness that made her clumsy.

She worked on her flower arrangement for about half an hour before she gave it up. It just didn't work. The flower arrangement looked with one word horrible. She took a quick glance at the nearly finished flower arrangement of Aya. Compared to hers, it was the most beautiful thing in the world. She winced slightly. Compared to her work, almost everything was beautiful. Keiko guessed doing flower arrangements was in way copying yourself.

She was just about to stare helplessly at the table – or the ground, it didn't really matter – when Aya asked, "Need some help?"

Before she could answer, he stood next to her and pointed at the flowers, quietly explaining what she could change for a better result. She listened silently, staring at Aya's hands and the flowers, nodding from time to time when he asked if she understood it.

When he was done with his explanation, he remained silent for a second, then said softly, "But what you had wasn't that bad at all as well." With that, he walked back to his own chair, leaving Keiko surprised behind.

She continued to stare at the flower arrangement before her, then gathered all her courage and asked softly, "Are you… Are you still angry with me, Aya-kun?"

There was a long silence from Aya's side before he answered, "I've never been angry with you."

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

_I've never been angry with you._

The words echoed in his mind after he had said them. Strangely enough, it was true as well. He had never been angry with Keiko. He also couldn't imagine himself being angry with Keiko. Actually, he never noticed Keiko when she was around. Or at least, he didn't notice her enough to get angry. He knew he would notice it when she was gone, though.

He glanced at the purple-haired girl, who sat across the table, and frowned. Why did she ever think he would be angry with her for waking him up? If he had any feeling towards that action, it would probably come closer to being thankful. After all, she saved him more embarrassment by waking him up.

If there was anyone he was angry with, it was Yohji. He gazed darkly at the flower arrangement before him as he replayed the sentences Yohji had said to him in his mind. How dared he? How dared he to suggest he, Aya, had sex while he had spent the whole night next to his sister? Had he no respect for the grief of others?!

Of course, Yohji didn't know about his sister. No one did of Weiß. Only Manx and Persia knew about her existence, because they provided a place for her to stay. But no one else knew about Aya-chan. And they didn't have to. 

He felt a questioningly gaze directed at him and when he looked up, he saw two dark red eyes looking at him. He frowned. What did she want this time? 

"What is it?" 

She seemed startled when he spoke to her. She always seemed startled when he spoke to her. He didn't know why and he didn't know if he cared enough to find out. She was like that, there was nothing he could do about it. 

"N-nothing," she stuttered, bending over her flower arrangement while she tried to hide her face behind her purple bangs. Aya's frown became deeper, wondering what Keiko had wanted to ask. Then he shrugged, pushing the thought away and concentrated on his work again. It was none of his business. If she didn't want to tell him, he should just forget about it.

His eyes fell upon a small, white flower with a pink hue. It was a lily, he saw. His sister would've loved this. She had always loved lilies, together with lavender and roses. And cherry blossom, of course. They always went to the Sakura festival on spring equinox. The next Sakura festival would be over two weeks. He wondered if he would go it. The last time he had gone to it was two years ago, before the accident. After the accident, he had carefully avoided all festivities which could bring too many sad memories to him. Perhaps it would be a wise idea not to go at all.

He looked quickly around to make sure no one was looking at him, then slipped the small flower carefully in his pocket and continued with the flower arrangements.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

The swarm of schoolgirls finally left the small flowershop. Yohji firmly pushed the last lingering girls out of the shop, then shut the door and pulled the roll-down shutter close. Omi and Ken had devoted their time in bringing the last flowers inside and were now busy in some sort of fight, which consisted of twe brooms, a dirty floor and the two boys trying to tackle each other. No one knew where Aya was.

Keiko looked a bit jealously at her two teammates, wishing she could join them. As usual, she was left out again in the daily cleaning. The pots had been already watered that morning and the table, used for flower arrangements, had already been tidied up. All she could do was standing aside and watching what the others were doing.

Omi seemed to sense her discontent – or maybe her face showed it very well. No matter how he found it out, he walked over to her, easily evading Ken's attempts to tackle him, and stopped before her, leaning casually on the broom. He smiled sunnily at her. "Do you want to join, Keiko? You and I could team up against Ken, you know. He's awfully good at this and I don't want to be under the bruises tomorrow."

Keiko smiled shyly, pushing a lost strand of purple hair behind her ear. "I don't know," she said hesitantly.

"Of course you do! Please? You don't want your best friend to be black and blue, do you? Please?" Omi looked at her, his ocean blue eyes wide open and beggingly. The look he gave her reminded her of a young puppy and she had to stifle her laughter.

"Alright, I'll help you." Glad to be able to do something, she walked over to the cupboard to get a broom and then she joined Omi with his fight against Ken. The soccerboy realized he couldn't handle the two on his own and asked for the help of the tall, blond assassin. Soon, the four of them were involved in the fight, receiving bruises and minor scratches, but nothing serious enough to make them stop. When Ken finally fell against Yohji, who promptly fell against Omi and Keiko, they all had to laugh, unable to stop and get up. Keiko had pain in her stomach from all this laughing, but she admitted she had never felt as good as before.

All the fun ended abruptly when the backdoor opened and Aya entered the shop. He glanced at them and at the still uncleaned shop. Ken and Omi coughed nervously, quicky getting up and continued with the task that had laid upon them. Keiko got up as well, blushing furiously as she put back the broom and hurried to the living room. Only Yohji managed to pretend nothing had happened and act like always.

Keiko stared glumly before her. Everything had been wonderful until Aya came home. It was always the same. Just when they were having a bit of fun, the redheaded assassin came to spoil it all. He didn't say anything, but the look he gave them said more than any word could've expressed. Why did he have to be that cold? Why weren't they allowed to have a bit of fun?

She remained silent, while she listened absently to the sounds coming from the kitchen. She was feeling rather petulant and refused to help the others with laying the table. It didn't happen often that she was in such mood, but she thought it was all a bit unfair. Besides, she wouldn't be of much help anyway, she'd better stay in the living room until dinner was ready.

Finally, Omi called her and she shuffled reluctantly to the cosy kitchen, which was filled with all kinds of scents. Keiko let herself fall onto a chair next to Omi and scanned the table. Apparently, Aya had been to some takeaway, since everything was stalled in carton boxes. She peeked in every one of them, trying to find out if it was really worth eating it. Then she found a small box next to her plate, filled with tempura. Her eyes widened in astonishment. How did Aya know she loved tempura? She glanced shyly at the young redhead, who was busy with filling glasses, and smiled to herself. Perhaps Aya was less cold than she thought.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Aya was in a pensive mood. He wondered if he should go see his sister tonight or if he ought to wait until tomorrow. Common sense told him he'd better visit her tomorrow, because he didn't have anything to bring along. But his heart longed to see her peaceful face again, to touch her soft hair and to be himself again. He couldn't be himself when he was among the others, not even when he was in his own room. It was a restriction he had laid upon himself when he first came here. He was an assassin, and they were his teammates. That was all. They didn't need to know how he really was, or how he had been a long time ago.

The ringing of the bell interrupted his thoughts and he automatically got up to see who would visit them this late. A flash of bright red hair, much like his own, answered for him and he let the woman in, quickly closing the door behind her. Although it was nearly spring, the evenings were still cold and every evening, the weather forecast warned for ground frost. 

"Manx," Omi exclaimed surprised, jumping on his feet when he recognised the woman. The reactions of the others were more or less similair, though remarkably less obvious. Manx greeted them all courteously, then came to the point.

"Persia has another mission for you guys." She showed the tape, handing it over to Omi. The young assassin sprinted to the video recorder and a moment later, they all listened intensely to Persia's orders.

"So that's it?" Yohji sounded slightly surprised. "That's all we have to do? Most missions Persia gives to us are more difficult." He raised his eyebrows and gazed expectantly at Manx.

"If you want to say it that way, yes, this is all you have to do. But," she said in a warning voice, letting her gaze wander among the members of Weiß, "don't underestimate it. You might find it more difficult in the end than any other mission you've had so far." 

There was a stunned silence for several moments. Aya frowned suspiciously. How could a mission as simple as this one turn out into a difficult battle? All they had to do was to plan everything perfectly, look up the target and kill him. They had all done it before.

She must have seen the expectation for an explanation on their faces, but for some obscure reason, she decided not to clarify what she had meant with her mystical words. Instead, she handed over the envelope with all the necessary information to Aya. He tried to read her face, hoping to find out more about this mission, but she kept her face straight and unemotional. Highly unlike Manx, he thought.

"You'll find all the information in the envelope. I think everything will be clear, especially after you've read the additional information." She hesitated for perhaps less than a second, but it was clear to Aya she was afraid to answer he usual question.

Manx straightened. "Are you all in?"

They all nodded their silent agreement. Even Yohji chose not to protest about it, although the puzzlement stood clearly on his face. Manx took a deep breath.

"Good." She glanced at them again and Aya got the faint impression she was trying to remember their faces in case she never got the chance again. "Be careful," she said, looking straight at Aya. He gazed coldly back, altogether unimpressed. They would be able to handle it. They had so far. And if they didn't, there was no point in worrying about it now.

She nodded as a way of saying goodbye and went upstairs. No one bothered to follow her. Manx knew her way around the Koneko well enough to find the exit.

Aya laid the envelope on the table and started to walk upstairs. "Where are you going?" sounded from behind him. Trust Yohji to meddle with the actions of other people. 

Aya gritted his teeth and answered flatly, "I'm going to prepare myself for the mission. Persia explicitly told us to have the mission tonight. You won't need me for the planning. As a matter of fact, I doubt if you have to plan anything at all. I got the strong suspicion it's already been planned." Without waiting for a comment, he walked on, ignoring the confused silence behind him.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Keiko stared confused at Aya. It was nothing for Aya to walk away when they were about to plan the mission. And what had he meant with 'it's already been planned'? Surely, Kritiker would leave the planning to them? Or not?

"Well," Omi said uneasily to break the silence. "Let's have a look at the information in the envelope. I assume we're going to do the mission tonight. If everyone agrees."

Yohji snorted. "As if there's room for agreement. Our ice-cold leader has already decided that the mission's being held tonight and there's no way you can change his mind."

"Yohji," Ken said warningly, giving the tall assassin a push to let him shut up. "Of course we agree. The sooner we have the mission, the better. At least the target won't have a chance of getting away. You agree as well, right, Keiko?" The two puppy brown eyes gazed at her.

"Well, I guess it's not a bad idea," she said hesitantly, wondering why he needed her opinion about this. There was no need for discussion at all. No matter how unfriendly Yohji's remark was, he had been right. All she wanted to know was the reason for this rush.

"What the hell?" Omi exclaimed when he leafed through the information. "That's impossible! How did he know that?"

The others, alarmed by Omi's incredulous exclaim, looked at the paper he was holding in his hands. Keiko drew in a sharp breath and her eyes widened in surprise. The paper Omi had in his hand and what had caused all the commotion was the plan for their mission. What was even more surprisingly, though, was that the date had been set on this night.

"He probably had looked inside the envelope before he handed it over to you," Yohji scoffed. "That's just something for him, to appear to be mysterious and all-knowing. Aya had simply already seen the planning before he went upstairs."

Omi shook his head. "Iya, that's impossible. The envelope was still sealed when I opened it. And there's no way Aya-kun could've opened it and sealed it again before giving it to me. Besides, it's not something for Aya to do that."

"It's also not something for Aya to walk away and there's also no way he could've known it," Ken countered. "But besides that, I think we'd better prepare ourselves for tonight's mission. There are five copies of the planning. I'll hand one over to Aya when I go upstairs."

Keiko said nothing when she accepted her copy and watched everyone walking away. Something strange was going on and she desperately wanted to know what it was.

"Scared, Kei-chan?" The young boy walked next to her, his eyes filled with sympathy and friendliness.

Keiko shook her head. "Not scared, just confused," she confessed quietly. "I don't understand anything of what has happened in the basement."

Omi laid a hand on her shoulders. "That's alright. I'm confused as well. But then, I don't think we really have to know what's going on, right? As long as we know the target and why we have to kill him, there's no need for us what's going on."

"I guess you're right. It's just…" She floundered, lost for words to explain her feeling.

"Don't worry," Omi advised her. "I think we will understand it when it's necessary. I'll see you downstairs in a while." His hand that had been comfortingly on her shoulder left and he went inside his own room. Keiko sighed and opened the door to her own room.

She was halfway dressing herself in her mission suit when she heard someone opened and closed the front door. Curiosity welled up and since her room was located at the front, she pushed a curtain open. She gazed stunned down on the street. Surely, the man was nearly invisible in his long, dark coat, but she recognised him at his red hair.

Hidden half behind the curtain she watched Aya walking to his car and getting in. There was a moment of silence before the car drove away. Keiko let the curtain fall back to its place, her face mirroring her concern. Where did Aya go to? Did he leave them for some reason or did he plan to finish the job on his own?

Troubled, she finished changing her clothes and picked up her gunsen. She hung them absently at her trousers and went to look for Omi.

She found the young assassin in the kitchen, studying the plan the carefully. Keiko sank down on a chair across of him. "Omi?" The boy looked up questioningly. "Do you know where Aya-kun went to?"

"Is Aya-kun out?" he asked surprised. "I didn't know that. No, I have no idea where Aya-kun went to, then."

She hesitated for a moment. "Do you… Do you think he has left us? He was acting very strangely this evening, when we got our mission."

Omi gave her a fake glare that spoke volumes. "Kei-chan, you really have to stop thinking Aya-kun or Yohji-kun are going to leave us. I believe I told you this morning they both care too much about us to simply leave us on our own during a mission. I think Aya-kun didn't want to wait for two hours in the Koneko and decided to have a little walk or something. Trust me, Aya-kun will be back in time for the mission."

He gave her a reassuring smile and Keiko smiled back, though she didn't feel that sure about the situation herself. The possibility Aya had left them behind was not something she could shake off.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Monotone beeping welcomed him when he opened the door. The scent of flowers was everywhere in this small room. The moon shone brightly through the window on the face of a young girl. One could look at her and assume she was asleep, wich sounded reasonable since it was nearly ten o'clock in the evening. But she wasn't asleep. 

Aya softly closed the door and crossed the room to his sister. Her chest moved regularly up and down, one of the few indications that she was still alive. A strand of chocolate brown hair had fallen over her face and moved with every breath. Aya pushed the lost strand gently away before he sat down on the chair that was always next to her bed.

He remained silent for ten full minutes, feeling all his troubles being lifted from his shoulder while his mind eased. The incident of this morning was erased, like all the other little incidents, which allowed him to produce a small smile at his sister.

Then suddenly, he began to talk, his deep rich voice filling the room. "I brought something for you today, Aya-chan. It's a lily, a white one with a pink hue. You always liked lilies, you remember? Especially if they were orange. And I kept telling you orange lilies stand for hatred and that is not a suitable flower for you."

He fell silent, staring through the window. Memories of him and his sister flashed through his mind, of times when they walked together to a flowershop, where they would buy lavender, roses or lilies. It was their weekly ritual and the house was always filled with flowers.

He dug in his pocket, tenderly lifted the small flower out it and placed it in Aya-chan's hand. "Here. Can you feel it? Can you smell it? It's lovely, don't you think? It's means 'it's heavenly to be with you'." He fell silent again, afraid to tell her the news he had heard this evening. Uncomfortably, he pulled at his mission suit in a vain attempt to straighten it.

"I've got something to tell you," Aya said softly and rather wistfully. "There's a mission tonight. Although it seems a fairly easy one, Manx already told us it will be rather difficult." He hesitated. "I may not return alive from it."

The sentence hung heavily in the air and Aya had to swallow hard. "Be careful. Manx will look after you when I'm not here anymore. She's rather direct, but nice enough, I suppose." He rose from the chair and kissed her softly on her forehead. "Farewell, Aya-chan."

He turned around and quietly left the room. He did not shed a tear, in fact there was not a single emotion written on his face or lingering in his eyes. Deep inside, however, he cried as if his heart was broken. He didn't want to leave his sister behind.

It was nearly eleven o'clock when he got home. The others were waiting for him anxiously.

"Aya-kun, where have you been?"

"Couldn't you at least have told us where you went to?"

"Aya, are you alright?" 

All kinds of questions were fired at him, four pair of eyes looked at him with a mix of concern, annoyance and relieve, but he ignored them all. It was not of their concern what he had done or where he had been. The voices behind him fell silent and a worried and angry silence filled the kitchen. 

"We'd better get ready for the mission," he told the others, his back still directed at the rest. "They've planned the mission at midnight and it will take us half an hour to get there." He walked further, upstairs to his room to fetch his katana. He knew the others half rose up from their chairs to follow him, but for some reason, only Ken actually went upstairs with him.

"Aya, are you alright?" the soccerboy quietly asked when they were alone.

"Of course." Aya opened the door of his room, leaving it open in case Ken wanted to enter his room as well. He went to a corner of his room, where a long, polished katana stood, shining brightly in the moonlight.

"You do understand we were worried about you when you suddenly left, don't you?" Ken stood uncomfortably at the doorway, uncertain if he was allowed to enter and feeling rather nervous for starting such a delicate topic to Aya.

"Hn." Aya lifted the katana, unsheathing it to inspect it for any problems.

"Keiko was concerned that you might have left, you know," Ken blurted out.

Aya froze in the middle of his inspection for several seconds before he continued. "She doesn't have to. She knows that." He sheathed his katana and turned to Ken. "Let's go down."

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Keiko didn't know if she ought to be relieved or annoyed like Yohji was. A part of her was exuberant that Aya hadn't left them, that he was back, but there was also a part of her that felt slightly angry for Aya's cold behaviour and refusal to answer their questions. If there was something wrong, she wanted to help him. But how could she ever think of helping him if he didn't speak to them?

Aya and Ken came down again. This time the redheaded assassin was carrying his huge katana. Keiko had once tried to lift it, a long time ago, when she had just joined Weiß. She could just lift it, but only for a few moments. It would probably be different now she had been trained intensively and with all the missions, but she still wondered how he was able to carry it that carelessly.

"Let's go," Aya told them in a flat, yet commanding voice. Keiko wondered if he was even aware of his commanding attitude as she rose from her chair and followed the group outside. She examined him from the corner of his eyes. As far as she could tell, he wasn't aware of it.

Ken walked to his motorcycle. Yohji would go with Omi in his Seven and she would join Aya in his car. She felt rather nervous about the prospect she would team up with Aya for this mission. Once again, she was overwhelmed with an internal conflict. A chance to work together with Aya and to show him what she was capable of filled her with excitement. Perhaps he would finally start to notice her. On the other hand, the quiet, mysterious young man terrified her. She wasn't much of a talkative person herself, but Aya was even worse and his silence always worked on her nerves.

Keiko slipped on the chair next to Aya and quickly closed the door. As soon as she sat, Aya started his car and drove away, not even giving her a proper chance to fasten her seat belt. She snorted quietly, carefully making sure Aya would not hear her. Such a manners! Not even waiting until she was ready. This was really a case of bad behaviour.

She struggled a bit with the seat belt, since Aya's way of driving was usually very hard and carelessly. Keiko insisted, however, on having her seat belt fastened, as a silent protest against him. She wondered if he would even notice it, but it was the idea that counted for the normally shy girl.

Keiko glanced at the silent redhead, noting he hadn't fastened his seat belt himself either. She was surprised he hadn't had any serious accidents. They were driving far above the maximum speed and the smallest thing could have them both flying through the window. Yet Aya handled the wheel with calm confidence. Not even Yohji dared to drive that fast and still being all self-confident and calm. The blond usually drove fast when he was angry or upset. At least, that was her suspection.

They rode on in absolute silence and Keiko stared through the window, trying to count trees, which was impossible since she hardly could see the trees because of the darkness and the high speed. She looked up when the car came to a halt. Aya's hands tightly gripped the wheel and she wondered what was wrong.

"We're here," he said curtly, finally letting go of the steering wheel. Keiko nodded solemnly and worked herself out of the car.

Ken was already there and he came to them as soon as he spotted them. "It seems to be exactly as it is said in the planning," he said to Aya without any introduction. "I haven't really had a chance to look inside, most curtains are shut, but there are exactly four guards standing near this entrance, another four at the entrance at the back, and two at each other door leading to the building. As far as I can say, there are half a dozen guards patrolling around. Every ten minutes, one of them passes this gate. That's all I've been able to find out before you came."

Aya nodded and bent over the map. Keiko decided this wasn't anything she could be helpful with and drifted off a little, hoping Omi and Yohji would be here soon as well. She stopped to look at the building. It wasn't even large or impressive. It had only two floors, but she didn't know how many levels were underground. It wasn't unusual for such companies to have immense laboratories underground.

"Keiko." Aya's low voice startled her and she turned quickly around. "Omi and Yohji have arrived. It's time to start the mission."

She nodded mutely, still unable to speak. How had he managed to sneak upon her? She hadn't heard a single sound and she had very sharp ears. At least, she had developed them during her occupation as assassin.

She followed Aya to the rest, where Omi was telling them for the last time what they had to do. It was unnecessary, of course, but the young boy was only concerned about the well-being of his friends. This was one of his ways to show that.

"You all understand it?" They nodded. "Let's go then."

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Cautiously, Aya moved through dimly lit halls, with Keiko right behind him. He wasn't altogether happy with the choice – he'd rather team up with Ken or Omi – but it hadn't been his choice and he had to submit to it. It wasn't that he didn't like to be with Keiko, but he had never worked together with the purple-haired assassin. He had no idea what she was capable of and how she would react when they were standing in front of the target. Aya simply felt more secure with Ken or Omi, knowing what they were able to do and they knew exactly what he expected of them.

He glanced around the corner to see if there were any difficulties waiting for them. Then he turned to Keiko. "We're almost there. You know what to do?"

There was a brief flicker of annoyance across Keiko's face, but she didn't say anything about it. She nodded once, gripping her gunsen more firmly. Aya was actually pleased at seeing such determination, but he also decided not to spill any words about it. It simply wasn't the time for compliments and that kind of things.

He turned on the headphone. "Abbysinian to Siberian, we're in position." He waited for a reply, but the line remained dead. He repeated the sentence another time. Aya frowned slightly annoyed, but concerned as well. Ken usually replied immediately. The soccerboy was perhaps not the smartest of them all, but he was trustworthy.

He motioned to Keiko she ought to contact Omi while he tried to get Yohji's attention. "Abbysinian to Balinese, do you hear me?" He waited for half a minute, then tried it again. "Balinese, please respond."

A look at Keiko's face told him she hadn't any luck either. Aya gazed at his watch. There were only three minutes left to attack the target. "We go in," he decided. "The mission has to be finished. We can find out what happened afterwards."

Although her face betrayed she'd rather help her friends, Keiko nodded quietly. The redhead drew his katana and looked at the door at the other side of the hall. "Let's go."

They walked down the hall, their feet making almost no sound when they touched the ground. It was perhaps that reason why Aya didn't notice the disappearance of Keiko. He was almost at the door, when he looked over his shoulder, to see if she was still alright.

But the hall was empty.

Startled, even shocked, Aya stood still, his amethyst eyes scanning the hall for any movement. He half expected her to show up behind him, with a smile on his face, telling him they had to move on before their chance to complete the mission was over. But it remained dreadfully silent. He was all alone.

She could've ignored him, of course, and went down to find Omi. He knew how close the friendship was between Omi and Keiko. A glance at his watch told him he had only one minute left. There was no chance he could follow her. It appeared he had to do this mission on his own.

Feeling very troubled, he moved on, until he reached the door. Aya knew he wouldn't be able to set his mind to rest before he found out where Keiko was. Thirty seconds left. "Abbysinian to Singapura, please answer." Twenty seconds. The line remained dead. "Singapura, please respond." Ten seconds left and still no answer. "Keiko, please, answer me!" Five seconds left. He had to enter the room now, or they would be all in trouble. Switching the headphone off, he opened the door and walked into a complete darkness. 

He tried to scan the room with his eyes, patiently waiting until they were adjusted to the darkness. Then, without a warning, someone began to speak. "So the last one has managed to reach me. Tell me, how does it feel?"

It took him all his wits to remain where he stood. It took even more to keep his voice cold and emotionless as always. "What do you mean?"

The voice laughed and seemed to come from everywhere. It confused the redheaded assassin as he tried to pinpoint the exact location of his target. "What do you think? But something else, since I've expected this for years to happen. Do you know by any chance your song?"

The question added only more confusion and Aya grudgingly shook his head. "No."

"Ah. It's called _The Last Rose of Summer_. The first passage will clear it all to you." The voice coughed once and deep and rich, it started to sing the extract.

_'Tis the last rose of summer,   
Left blooming alone.   
All her lovely companions   
Are faded and gone.   
No flow'r of her kindred,   
No rosebud is nigh,   
To reflect back her blushes   
Or give sigh for sigh.   
  
_

There was a stunned silence from Aya's side as the words silently seeped into his mind. _All her lovely companions are faded and gone._ Anger welled up in him. "What have you done to them?!" he shouted. Omi. Ken. Yohji. Keiko… "What have you done to them?!" he repeated again, running without knowing into which direction, trying to ignore the sharp pain in his heart when he thought of Keiko.

The voice laughed again. "Run, you fool. Run until the end of days. You'll never catch me."

Suddenly, his knees gave away and Aya sank to the ground, clutching at his chest. Breathing was difficult and he had the feeling flames consumed him, although there was not even a single spark in the dark room. "What… have you… done… to them?" he managed to say between the gasps. Before the voice could answer, Aya's mind slipped away and the redhead fell unconsciously on the floor. 


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Weiß Kreuz. They all belong to Project Weiß and Takehito Koyasu. I also don't own Hashishita Keiko, she is an original character from Chisha. I only borrow her for this story with her permission. As last, I also didn't write the song, it belongs to _Clannad_.

**Author's Note:** Second chapter, and that in less than a week! It's a miracle!!!! *gasps* Anyway, I had fun with this one, although Aya's getting a little bit out of character at the end of the chapter. Now one more chapter to go and then the story's finished! Woohoo!!! *bounces around* Sorry, I'm a bit hyper today. I don't know why. Probably because I've got all this inspiration and I need to write it down somewhere, but I can't, 'cause once I start writing it down, it all goes away. Poor me.

Anyway, enough nonsense coming from me. Enjoy the second chapter.

**Warnings:** Original character is paired up with Aya, heterosexual relationships

**Pairing:** Aya/Keiko

_Gift-fiction for Chisha, because she always corrects my mistakes and because I was allowed to use her character._

****

****

**T H E   L A S T   R O S E   O F   S U M M E R**

_I'll not leave thee thou lone one   
To pine on the stem,   
Since the lovely are sleeping   
Go sleep thou with them;   
Thus kindly I scatter   
Thy leaves o'er the bed,   
Where thy mates of the garden   
Lie scentless and dead._   
  


**Chapter Two**

****

_"Lost. I had lost them all. Next to my family, fate had cruelly decided to leave me bereft of my friends and teammates. I was all alone now and the awareness of that crushed upon me. I had no other memory, except that I floated somewhere. Perhaps it was the universe, perhaps it was my imagination. I didn't care, I just let myself float as I grieved over the loss of those I had come to care about._

_I was all alone, but I was dying. For some reason, I didn't mind that. I had lived to long anyway. I should have died together with my family. Then I wouldn't have to face all the grieve and loneliness. I certainly wouldn't have to face it for a second time._

_Keiko…The name alone was enough to cause pain in my heart. What made matters worse, I'd never taken the trouble to tell her I liked her. That I viewed her as my friend. It was too late now, though. She was dead, like the rest of Weiß, and it wouldn't take long before I would follow her. I would finally see my parents again, if I came to heaven. But after all those crimes I had committed in the name of justice, I doubted if I would even have a chance to stand before the gate to heaven._

_I didn't know if I should mind. I guessed that, as long as I was together with my friends, things wouldn't be that bad. If I only wanted to die…_

_A bright, soft purple light appears before me. I stopped floating, blinking in confusion. I had always thought the light to heaven would be white. Apparently, I was mistaken. There was a soft feminine voice I ought to know, but for some reason I couldn't remember it. I had heard it before, I used to know her, but my memory was failing me._

_'Come, lone one. Come to me. Let me stay with  you.' Two hands extended from the light, two pretty and small hands. I grasped them, unable to ignore the command in her voice. Our hands linked together, and the light started to dissolve, showing the woman's face. Two dark red eyes looked pleadingly at me. I wanted to extend my hand to touch her face, but the moment I let go of her hand, the world around me faded away, leaving me alone once again._

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

His head throbbed with pain. That was the first sensation he became aware of as his conscious slowly returned. His mouth was dry, with his tongue sticking to the upper part of his mouth. Breathing was difficult, hurting his throat with every inhale. His arms and legs seemed to hurt as well, but it hurt definitely much less than the rest of his body.

Somebody was sitting next to him, holding his hand and hovering anxiously over him. In a reflex, he tried to take hold of the small hand, but although he did his best, his fingers didn't want to bend. They bent slightly, then straightened again.

It was enough, though, to alarm the person holding his hand.

"Ken-kun?" A familiar voice filled the air and he winced inwardly at the violation of the silence. His ears, it appeared, were very sensitive at the moment for loud noises, and so was his head. The headache became worse when she spoke.

"Ken-kun? Aya-kun's finally waking up. Will you look at him? You're healing skills are better than mine."

"Sure, I'm coming in a minute. I need to finish Omi's wounds first."

Aya opened his eyes, staring blankly at the white ceiling above him for several moments as he listened to the conversation. Each word sent new pulses of pain through his whole body, it seemed, but he still had to listen to it. When the voices died away, he slowly turned his head.

In the doorway stood a young woman, with long purple hair, a white nightdress and bandage around her head. It took a while before he realised who she was. He wanted to call her, to ask her what had happened, but there came no sound over his lips. When he noticed he was unable to speak, he just laid, watching Keiko until she turned around to let Ken in.

The brown-haired guy crossed the room, followed closely by Keiko, and sat down on the chair. Aya watched their movements in silence, his features as cold and emotionless as possible. He had, after all, a certain reputation to keep up. But the reasons were more personal than that. He knew he was somehow seriously wounded, if he was lucky, and that in his current state, he would easily tell the others things he'd rather keep to himself. Like the presence of his sister. Therefore, he did his best to conceal his feelings behind the mask he had worn since the accident.

Ken didn't say a word as he gently, but professionally started to change the bandage. It was then Aya notice his whole arms had been bandaged and large wounds were covering his arms. Ken applied salve to the wounds and Aya turned his head away to hide the pain from his teammates.

"It's alright, Aya-kun," Keiko said softly.

For the first time since Ken was in the room, he spoke as well. "She's right, you know. It doesn't matter if it hurts. In fact, you're lucky to be still alive." He efficiently began to wrap fresh bandage around Aya's arms. "Keiko, why don't you get a glass of water for Aya? I imagine he can use that."

Keiko nodded and left the room quietly. Now Ken was ready with his arms, Aya turned his head back to the soccerboy. "What… happened…?" he croaked. Ken stopped for a moment and he frowned. Then, deep in thought, he picked up some more bandage and started tending his legs.

"I don't exactly know what happened. Do you remember the mission we had? The one Kritiker had already planned for us?" Aya nodded quietly. "Well, I think that we were all transported to another dimension when we were there." Ken fell silent again, as he examined the wounds. "Hold your legs still, this will only take a minute." Aya waited, wondering what Ken wanted to do. A peculiar, tintling feeling spread over his legs. It was, strangely enough, rather pleasant. Curiously, he pushed himself a little up to see what Ken was doing.

He blinked when he saw a bright greenish glow surrounded Ken's hands. Aya wanted to ask what he was doing, but a coughing fit interrupted him and weakly, he let himself fall back again, coughing until he thought his lungs were torn apart.

"Easy, Aya. Don't force yourself." The soccerboy helped him getting up again. "Keiko? Where's the glass of water?" he called to the purple-haired girl. Aya winced again when Ken shouted next to him. Although it didn't hurt that much as before, it was still painful to his head.

"I'm coming, Ken-kun." A moment later, Keiko entered the room, carrying an exquisitely blown glass filled with water. Aya frowned, wondering since when they had such glasses. They must've been very expensive. Besides, what had been wrong with the other glasses? What was going on?

Keiko pushed the glass in his hands and he decided he'd question about it later. More important at the moment was to get the dryness out of his mouth, so that he could speak again. He drained the glass, nearly drowning himself and Ken had to stop him before thing got out of control.

"Easy, Aya. You're drinking too much in one time. Don't try to drown yourself." Aya reluctantly did as Ken advised him, since logic told him the soccerboy was right. 

"The story." The words came out painfully, but a lot easier than before. He looked at Keiko, who still stood beside his bed. That nightdress stood her very good. Then he frowned. What was he thinking? To prevent his mind from wandering off again, he asked, "Could you get some more water?"

Keiko nodded, smiling shyly at him and walked away again. Ken waited until she was gone before he continued with explaining what had happened. "That building where we were, was most probably some kind of insubstantial portal." The soccerboy flushed slightly. "That's at least Omi's explanation. He used a lot more difficult words, but I didn't understand that, so he simplified his theory. If you want to know his true explanation, I'm sure he will tell you that."

Aya shook his head. "It's alright. Go on."

"Well," Ken continued, "since it's an insubstantial portal, being teleported to another dimension happens rather irregularly. Omi tried to explain me how that whole process works, but I believe he gave up after two hours. Anyway, this portal moves around and somehow came across us and zipped us to this place." Aya was almost certain Omi hadn't used the word 'zipped'. "And that's actually what happened."

"But what happened after that?"

"You got burned." The two boys looked startled up at Keiko's voice. "That's what happened and that's why you've got all this bandage."

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

She stood still in the doorway, the requested glass of water in her hands, as she blurted out what had happened. Now she wished she had never said anything, for the attention of both Ken as Aya were directed at her. A slow red blush crept over her cheeks and she lowered her gaze.

"At least, that's what we assume," she mumbled. "When we found you, the grass was black and some trees were still burning. Since you were covered with burns, it was only logic there had been a great fire, right?"

Ken rescued her by taking over the explanation. "She's right. We don't know _exactly_ what happened, since we weren't there when it took place, but Omi thinks there has been some kind of great fire when you arrived here. Which means your element is fire."

"What does that mean?" asked Aya.

"That you can control fire," Keiko muttered quietly as she slipped into the room, handing over the glass to him. "Right, Ken-kun?"

Ken nodded. "We appear all to have certain 'magical' abilities, because we are in another dimension. Magic seems to be rather normal in this world. When we all got here, we were all somehow affected by our element. Yours is fire."

There was a long silence. "So I've been burned by my own fire. And the rest? What happened to you?" Aya directed his gaze at Keiko and she flushed again.

"Well, I simply stumbled over a stone," she mumbled embarrassed. The redhead stared blankly at her, clearly not understanding what the relation was with one of the four known elements. That was probably because she didn't have one of the four known elements, but a rather special one. "M-my element is light," she continued softly. "I was temporarily blinded when I got here. I couldn't see the stone lying just in front of me, so I tripped."

She half expected laughter, but Aya remained silent, and deadly serious. She was somehow offended by his reaction, since there was actually no reaction at all. It looked as if he simply ignored what she had told him. At least Omi and Yohji had laughed when she told her story. It was perhaps rather embarrassing, but it was a reaction.

"I ended up in a tree," Ken continued. "Which seems to make my element earth. Next to that, I appear to have some skills in healing people magically. Everyone can do that, but I'm just a little better in that. Yohji ended up in a lake, I believe. He was at least very wet when we found him on the shore. His element is water, by the way. Omi is the only one without any injuries, probably because his element is air and you can't stay at five hundred feet in the air."

Aya nodded solemnly, slowly draining the crystal clear water. When it was empty, Keiko took it away from him, and the redhead lied down again, looking very tired. "Is there anything else I ought to know?"

There was a long silence. Then Keiko blurted out, "You've been unconscious for five days. We were almost afraid you wouldn't wake up again."

Aya nodded once and turned his head to the window. "I think I'd like to be alone now. I feel rather tired."

"Of course. Come, Keiko." Ken stood up and motioned to her to follow him. Keiko, still feeling rather shaky and shocked by her own courage, slowly turned around and walked away. She had rather stayed with Aya, like she had done all the days before, helping him whenever it was necessary, but the redhead had made clear he wanted to be left alone. She was almost at the doorway, when Aya's voice held her back.

"By the way, nice nightdress, Keiko."

She stopped surprised, turning red for the third time in a short period. Shyly, she glanced over her shoulder. "You really think so?" Aya nodded, his eyes fixed upon her. She gave him a timid, little smile. "Thank you." Happily, she walked on, softly closing the door. He had liked her nightdress. Keiko could almost explode with happiness.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

The following days passed in some kind of haze for Aya. Most of the time, he slept, but his dreams were troubling and confusing. When he was awake, he was taught about his powers, the city, the house and all kinds of other things. And when Omi was finished with that, Ken was there to tend his wounds and to check if everything was still alright with Aya.

All in all, the redheaded assassin found there was very little time left for himself and this made him bad-tempered and pensive. Since it was almost impossible to be in a bad mood and pensive at the same time, the feelings conflicted inside him, leaving him disorientated behind. There were even times he had the feeling he was going insane.

The only comfort he had was the ever presence of Keiko. She was not always in his room, but she stayed close enough to help him whenever he needed something and she also spent a lot of her time in his room, quietly reading books while he stared through the window.

He had just woken up from another rather disturbing dream, which had left him sweating and shaking in his bed, when someone tapped softly on the door. He heard Keiko putting her book aside and getting up, to answer the door.

"Keiko." There was a startled silence when he said her name. He paused, unsure how to put his wish in words. There was a second knock on the door and Aya heard that Keiko was moving again to answer it. "Tell them I'm asleep." 

"Aya-kun?" Keiko sounded puzzled. He understood it, but chose not to explain himself any further as he rolled up in his blanket, closing his eyes.

"Tell them I'm asleep."

Keiko remained silent, not asking for an explanation. For the first time, Aya realised Keiko never asked a second time for an explanation. He thought about that, while he listened to the conversation behind him. Would that be the reason why he could stand Keiko's presence in these days, whereas even Omi's always happy nature nowadays set his teeth on edge?

Keiko closed the door and walked back to her chair. He could feel she was still wondering why he didn't want to see anyone. He was willing to explain it to her, but for some reason, the words got stuck in his throat.

"Keiko." She looked up, he knew it for sure, although his eyes were fixed again on the window next to his bed. Two dark red eyes were gazing at him questioningly and anxiously, in case there was something wrong with him. A delicate hand must be pushing a lost strand of purple hair behind her ear as she waited for him to continue.

But Aya couldn't continue. The will to express his troubling feelings was there, but the words vanished the instant they entered his mind. He struggled, closing his eyes, frowning deeply. He felt guilty for not being able to express himself, that he couldn't explain it to Keiko, so she didn't need to be confused like he was.

A hand touched lightly his face and he glanced up at Keiko's beautiful face. Their eyes met for a moment, then she turned her head away, flushing slightly. She pulled her hand back, but Aya grabbed it, drawing her closer to him. He needed company, but not the company of someone who could talk on endlessly without wondering how Aya felt. He needed company of someone who would listen, who would try to understand him. And he knew, deep in his heart, that next to Aya-chan, Keiko was the right person.

"Keiko, I…" Lost in words, in too many emotions. He couldn't speak to someone sitting next to him. Aya-chan had been different, she had been his sister and apart from that, she had been in coma. Aya had no idea how much she heard when he talked to her. But Keiko wasn't in coma and she would hear every word he said to her. It terrified him, and yet he wanted to tell her what was wrong with him. Conflicting feelings over conflicting feelings. Aya had the idea he was truly going insane now.

"Aya-kun…" Keiko's voice was soft and enquiringly, as if she wanted to encourage him to continue with talking.

And still the words didn't want to come out. He started to feel desperate and cursed himself for his reticence. Had he been like Omi or Yohji, he wouldn't have had any trouble describing his problem.

He suddenly reached out for her other hand, ignoring her surprised gasp, and closed his eyes. Without really knowing what he was doing, he transported all his feelings over to Keiko. No word could describe his problem, but he hoped she would understand it when she felt it.

He gasped, finally letting go of her hands. He was transpiring profusely and a sudden exhaustion overwhelmed him. He would've nearly toppled over if Keiko hadn't supported him.

"Aya-kun… It's alright, don't worry. I think I understand your problem. I'll talk about to the others, alright?" Aya felt relieved and he nodded solemnly. He knew she would understand it.

"I'm tired… I'm going to sleep." While he turned back to his personal shelter, shielding all his thoughts and emotions again, he laid down. A cool, soft hand brushed gently and timidly over his cheek and slowly, he fell fast asleep.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Keiko continued sitting next to Aya, even though he had fallen asleep. Her hand still rested at his cheek, although it was not necessary anymore. He wouldn't notice it. But this was the only time Keiko dared to touch him.

She stared pensively at the young man. Keiko had to admit his sudden exposure of his feelings had been a shock. Aya never showed any sign of his true emotions and now he engulfed her with them. What was more a surprise, though, was the fact he had used magic to make her understand. That was what had exhausted him.

Keiko reluctantly got up. She wanted to stay with this mysterious and beautiful young man, who she secretly feared and adored. But if she wanted to help him, she had to find one of the others to explain his situation. The solution for his problem was rather simple, and she knew it. All he had to do was to get out of bed and start making himself useful again. Because under all his feelings, there was a sensation of being useless. But how could she ever tell him that?

Before she left the room, she looked up at Aya's katana. It was the same as in the other dimension, with the only difference it had a large red ruby on the hilt. She always watched it when he was asleep and before, the ruby had flickered with a restless fire. Now, however, it shone serenely down on the redheaded assassin.

Keiko smiled and quietly left the room, looking for Ken. If there was one person Aya was willing to listen to, it would be Ken. 

She found the soccerboy in the garden, surrounded by a greenish aura. Several animals were sitting around him and Keiko was ready to run away when she noticed there were also wolves and bears among the animals. 

"Don't worry, Keiko, they won't hurt you," Ken said. "They are our guardians and they would rather die than attack us." The green light disappeared and Ken turned around with a friendly smile. "Is there something I can help you with? You seem to be troubled."

Keiko approached the group of animals apprehensively. No matter what Ken had said about those savages not attacking her, she rather didn't try it out. "Can we uh… talk somewhere privately?" she asked nervously.

Ken understood her fear and looked at a fierce grey wolf. No words were spoken – this was a conversation held at a higher level than with just words – and the wolf loped away, followed by the other animals. Ken waited until they were all out of sight before he turned to Keiko. "What's your problem, Keiko?"

Keiko hesitated, but the friendly smile Ken gave her and her concern for Aya made her speak. "Well… it's not really my problem. You see, Aya-kun umm…" She floundered for a moment, not sure how she had to describe the redhead's problem. "He… he feels umm…"

"Useless? Too much occupied by Omi and me to solve his own personal problems?" Ken helped her.

She stared at him in disbelief. "You already knew it," she accused him.

"Keiko-" The Earth mage interrupted himself to sit down on a tree trunk, pulling Keiko next to him. "Keiko, everyone knew about Aya's problem. His thoughts are echoing throughout the house, because he still refuses to shield his mind. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed it yourself already."

"Well… I did, but…" Ashamed, Keiko stared at the ground. She had never paid much attention to it, thinking Ken would be able to solve it or that it would go away when the redhead got better. "Why didn't you do something about it, Ken-kun?"

"Because Aya has to learn to open himself to us," he replied. "As long as he doesn't say something, there's no way we can help him."

There was a long silence in which Keiko let the words sink into her mind. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible. "He showed me his feelings, Ken-kun. Aya-kun's in a lot of trouble right now. Will you please talk to him?"

Ken put a hand on her shoulder. "I will, Keiko. Don't worry." He looked up at the black clouds drifting towards them. "You'd better go back inside. I expect it's going to rain very soon."

"Hai. Arigatou, Ken-kun." Feeling much better after this talk, she hopped back inside.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

After Ken had left him, Aya gazed through the window, listening to the threatening thunder and raindrops falling on the roof. Although the brown-haired boy had said a lot of things Aya didn't like, he was Ken grateful for doing it. The internal conflict had subsided during the conversation and he clearly saw what he had to do.

He pushed himself in a sitting position, stretching himself for the first real time since he had regained his consciousness. It felt peculiarly good after all these days of lying down in bed. He swung his legs over the brink of his bed, amazed to discover that the floor, although it was made of white marble, was pleasantly warm. It was as if something invisible kept the floor heated.

He needed clothes. The shirt he was wearing at the moment was perhaps good enough for in bed, but he was barely presentable to meet the others. He glanced around, searching for a closet. He felt ashamed that he had no idea what his room looked like, even though he had been more than week already in it. The walls were a soft light green, with golden shells and lines decorating it. One wall was replaced with huge windows, through which bright sunlight shone in. Dark green curtains, held back by golden embrasses, fitted perfectly with the walls. 

He slowly walked through the room, his hands touching lightly the mahony writing desk and chair, following the lines on the walls, exploring everything. It was much more spacious than his last room had been, and more luxuous as well. He didn't know if he minded it.

He finally stopped at a large chair. Like the curtains, it was dark green and made of the smoothest velvet. Small, colourful cushions brightened it up and the chair itself was most comfortable. Aya knew this was the chair where Keiko always sat when she was looking after him. Although the girl hadn't been in his room for more than an hour, he could still smell her scent on the chair. It was clear to him Keiko liked to sit in this chair. Perhaps, when he had the time, he would move it to her chamber. But that was something for later to decide.

The red-haired assassin noticed there were two doors in his room. One door, actually consisting of two dark brown doors, led to the main hall. He had often seen Keiko opening it when either Omi or Ken knocked on it. The other door, however, was single and cream white. Puzzled, he crossed the room and opened the white door.

Behind it was his own personal bathroom. There was a huge bath and several towels, coloured in all tints of green, lay neatly on a small shelf. Other selves contained different kind of soaps and bath oils. On one wall hung a mirror and the equipment for shaving.

Aya decided it would be a good idea to take a bath. After all, he hadn't bathed since the morning of the mission and he didn't want to offend his friends with his odor. Besides that, he figured a bath would be able to wash away the last remnants of his internal conflict.

He turned the tap on and went back to his room. With all his strength, he opened the heavy doors of the closet. Inside it lay all kinds of clothes, but nothing he usually wore. How could he expect it? They were in some fantasy world, after all. At least, if he had to believe Omi, they were. Aya immediately decided he would never wear a robe, even if his life depended on it. Ken had made a habit of wearing dark brown robes, since that seemed to strengthen his powers, but Aya thought they were ridiculous and he absolutely refused to wear one. He had no idea what Yohji wore, since he hadn't seen the tall, blond assassin for more than a week, but Omi always wore a linen shirt with a simple tunic and trousers. It seemed to Aya that would be the best choice.

He carefully selected his clothing, then walked back to the bathroom, where the bath was nearly full. He turned the tap off and undressed himself. Although he had never really liked soaps and oils, he suddenly felt a need to use them. His eyes scanned the labels, until he found a bath oil with the smell of roses. He meticulously measured the amount of oil, put the flask back and slipped in the warm water. His muscles relaxed and Aya felt how the worries were washed away.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Very good, Kei-chan. You're definitely getting better." The cheerful blond boy walked to her and Keiko gave him a tired smile as she sat down on a chair.

"I still don't understand my power, though," she confessed in a small voice. "I mean, the powers of you and Ken-kun and Yohji-kun and Aya-kun are understandable. But why do I control everything of the light? I don't understand it."

Omi drew a chair closer to hers and sat down as well. For a moment he looked as if he wanted to say something seriously, but instead of that, he started to laugh. "You know," he said chuckling. "I believe we had this conversation before." Keiko gazed blankly at him. "When we were at the Koneko, just before the mission," Omi explained. "You said you were confused and that you didn't understand anything of it. This is a similar situation. You don't have to understand it. All you have to do is to learn how to use it. The reasons of your power will probably be relieved later on. Can you understand that?"

Keiko smiled and nodded. "I think I can live with that. Thanks, Omi."

The young assassin looked more closely at her. "There is something else, isn't there?" he asked. "Do you want to share it with me? Perhaps I can help you."

Keiko smiled timidly and shook her head. "It's not necessary. It's nothing important and you've got other things to do." She wanted to get up and walk away, but Omi pushed her back on the chair. She gave an astonished shriek. "Omi!"

He looked at her, his blue eyes filled with sympathy and friendship. "Tell me. Even though it is nothing important. I'm your friend, Keiko. Nothing is unimportant enough not to tell a friend about it. Has it to do with Aya-kun?"

Keiko turned red at her friend's question. "Well… not really…" She turned her eyes away from Omi and corrected herself. "Partially, yes. You see… his feelings…" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Aya-kun shared his feeling with me magically. And now I don't know what to do with them. I… I want to make him happy, you see."

"You're in love with him," Omi stated calmly."

"N-No! Well… not really… I don't know." She let her head hang, trembling nervously. Her confession about her wish to make Aya happy and Omi's statement that she might be in love with him had somehow drained all her energy and all she wanted to do right now was to sink through the ground and disappear.

Omi laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it slightly. "Your secret is safe with me. I won't tell the others about it, if that's what you wish." Keiko glanced thankfully up. "Now, I'm going to scout the neighbourhood. You have fun with Aya-kun." He laughed when she blushed again and took a few steps back. Then he blurred and a moment later, a snowy white bird flew away.

Keiko remained in the training hall for a few moments, trying to regain her composure again. She got up, smoothing her skirt and walked back to Aya's bedroom. Ken was training again and she had no idea where Yohji was. From the first day on, the tall, blond assassin had left the house early and always got back late. He always refused to talk about his excursions when he got home and they were all a bit worried about Yohji's abnormal behaviour.

The girl sighed and pushed a purple strand behind her ear. If this only hadn't happened, then everything would be alright. And she didn't even care that they were in this weird world, as long as she knew what she was supposed to do. No matter what Omi told her that she would understand it when the time was right, she wanted to know it now.

Keiko tapped timidly on the door, then waited patiently. When there was no answer, she pushed the door carefully open, ready to close it whenever it was necessary. But the room was empty.

Taken aback, she pushed the door further open, forgetting about being cautiously. When she had left the room to find Ken, Aya had been sleeping. That had been perhaps two hours ago. And now he was gone!

She checked the bed, to make sure it was really empty. His katana still hung above the bed. Keiko knew he couldn't be far then. But even if he was somewhere in the house, it could still take her hours to find him. Why she wanted to find him, was a mystery, even to her. It seemed as if Omi had somehow woken something up inside her, and that part of her wanted desperately to be with the redheaded assassin.

The glimmer of the ruby got her attention and curiously, she moved closer to it. The reddish glow intensified and it seemed as if it wanted to tell her something. Keiko hesitated. The katana was from Aya and he was rather protective about it. She was sure he wouldn't like it when she took it off the wall. But ruby's red glow pulled at her mind, almost compelling her to pick up the katana.

She stretched out one hand, then froze in her tracks. The katana would be too heavy for her to lift. She had tried it once before and the remembrance of the dead weight was still fresh in her memory. Then there was another pull at her mind and almost obediently, she enclosed her hands around the hilt, lifting it off the wall.

The katana was surprisingly light, as if it had no weight at all. A chain of visions flashed through her mind and she blushed furiously when she saw Aya getting in bath. The problem with visions was that she couldn't turn her head away or close her eyes. Well, she could do it, but it didn't work.

Finally, she saw Aya standing in a field of flowers. So he was in the garden! She almost dropped the katana, but there was a whining pull at her mind when she wanted to do that. Amazed, she stared it, then she understood it. The katana wanted to go to its master. Even better, she thought. They could both go to Aya.

The rain had stopped and the air smelled to a wet forest and damp grass. Keiko inhaled it deeply, enjoying the nature's scent. Suddenly feeling happy without any direct reason, Keiko hopped further into the garden. That her feet got wet was not of her concern. Life was for once feeling good to her.

All her happiness left her, however, when she found Aya. First, she was awed by the look of him. Although he stood with his back towards her, she could clearly see his dark green tunic, with under it a cream white linen shirt. A broad, dark brown leather belt was seated around his waist and the dark brown trousers with leather boots finished it all. All that missed right now was a cap with a red feather and a bow and arrows.

When she moved closer, though, she sensed a great sadness coming from this handsome young man. It seemed to her he was grieving over someone very important. When she stood next to him, she noticed he was holding a primrose. Suddenly unsure if she was still welcome, she quietly wondered who was important enough to Aya that he had the feeling he couldn't live without her.

"Aya-kun?" Aya looked up, mildly puzzled, but he said nothing. He must be wondering what she was doing here, with his katana. She coughed nervously and held his katana to him. "Your katana is missing you," she said in an attempt to cheer him up. He stared at her, then nodded slightly and took over the katana. For a moment, he was surrounded by flames, but he muttered quietly something and the fire died away.

Keiko gathered all her courage. "Who are you thinking of, Aya-kun?"

Aya gazed at the primrose, still saying nothing. She took that as a hint that she was unwelcome and was already turning around, when Aya said, "Please, stay."

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

In silence, Aya stood there in the field of flowers, with Keiko next to him. A glance at her direction told him she was feeling rather uncomfortably, although he could not think of any reason what could cause her nervousness. It was not entirely true, Aya did have an idea what caused her tenseness. She wouldn't be the first one who felt unwelcome in his presence.

In hope to ease her mind, he told her, "Don't worry, you're not disturbing me." He paused for a moment, discovering it didn't really reassure her. "You may leave as well, of course, if you prefer that." He turned his head away, so that he did not have to look at her as his voice dropped to a whisper. "But I would like it if you stayed."

There was long silence before Keiko spoke. "I'll stay… if you want me to." Her voice quavered with tension and Aya suspected it had taken all her courage to make this decision. After all, Keiko wasn't notorious for being straight forward or blunt.

He gazed at the primrose in his hand. "You wanted to know who I was thinking  of, right?" He took the silent answer as a yes. "It's my sister." He wondered what he was doing. It wasn't in his character to tell people about his past. His fist clenched more firmly over the stem of the primrose and he took a deep breath to calm himself a bit.

A small hand timorously touched his arm. "You don't have to tell it, Aya-kun. I… I shouldn't have asked it. I'm sorry." Keiko's voice faltered and she removed her hand, taking a few steps back.

Aya shook his head. "It's not your fault." He hesitated a moment before he continued. "I'll tell you about my sister. About what happened to the Fujimiya family." He turned his gaze to her. "If you are interested, of course." Keiko nodded once, almost frightened, as if she was afraid her answer would annoy him. As a matter of fact, he was relieved.

"My family…" He broke himself of, trying to find a better way of starting his story. "My sister and I…" He paused again. "Give me your hand." Startled, Keiko extended her hand and Aya enclosed it protectively in his own big hand. Her hand was petite and warm and the touch of it was comforting. With his other hand, he gripped his katana, lifting it, with the hilt upwards. The ruby began to glow and the surroundings changed.

"It was summer when it all happened," Aya said softly. "It was the day before my sister's birthday. She would turn sixteen." The face of his sister appeared in front of them, like he had remembered it. "I admit I loved, and still love, my younger sister. She always managed to cheer me up." Aya closed his eyes, while before them, the story continued.

_"Ne, ne, onii-chan! Can I have that, please?"_

_"We'd better hurry up then, wouldn't you say?"_

_"Onii-chan, you're really the best."_

"We got home. It was quiet, too quiet. I didn't notice it at first. A scream of my sister alarmed me." The redhead winced involuntarily when he heard it again and he had to gather all his will to continue. "As you can see, my parents were unconscious. A gas bomb was placed on a shelf. All I could think of was getting Aya-chan to safety, so I pushed her outside.

"The bomb exploded and the house collapsed on me. It hurt, but I didn't care as long as my sister was safe. I thought she was, I really thought she was. But I was wrong."

The girl looked shocked at them. Then there was a blinding light as a car rode towards his sister. The memories were painful, to see it all again hurt him even more, but Aya knew he wouldn't be able to tell this. He had turned his head away, unable to look at it any longer.

"In one day, I had lost everything that was precious to me. My parents were dead and my sister is in coma. I was the only one left."

Aya lowered his katana and the scenery turned back to its original state. He continued, however, to hold Keiko's hand in his, finding solace in the touch.

The purple-haired girl was silent for a long time. "I'm sorry about your sister," she said finally quietly. Then she shivered and it was the shiver that brought Aya back to the present.

"You're cold." It wasn't a question, it was a statement and he looked down at her feet. "You're not wearing any shoes. You'll catch a cold this way. Let's go back inside." Keiko nodded and obediently followed him inside.

"Aya-kun? Kei-chan?" Omi's cheerful voice welcomed them when they approached the door. "We've got a mission tonight."


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Weiß Kreuz. They all belong to Project Weiß and Takehito Koyasu. I also don't own Hashishita Keiko, she is an original character from Chisha. I only borrow her for this story with her permission. As last, I also didn't write the song, it belongs to _Clannad_.

**Author's Note:** The third and last chapter. ^_^ Things are going fast right now. Will Aya find someone to help him out of his own, lonely world? 

I've used a bit of flower language in this chapter, but you'll be able to find them at the end of the story. Enjoy it!!

**Warnings:** Original character is paired up with Aya, heterosexual relationships

**Pairing:** Aya/Keiko

_Gift-fiction for Chisha, because she always corrects my mistakes and because I was allowed to use her character.___

**T H E   L A S T   R O S E   O F   S U M M E R**

_So soon may I follow   
When friendships decay,   
And from loves' shining circle   
The gems drop away!   
When true hearts lie withered   
And fond ones are flown   
Oh! Who would inhabit   
This bleak world alone?_

**Chapter Three**

_"I had the feeling my life was changing before my eyes. It was going to fast to follow it and I couldn't prevent it. Everything I had lived for the last two years seemed far away and unimportant. A new feeling was slowly taking me over, a feeling I had never felt before and that I didn't understand yet._

_It was as if I had lived in a dark room all those years, unable to find the switch to turn on the light. Alone, in the dark world, with nothing but my hatred and thirst for revenge to continue. In this dark room, I had transformed from Fujimiya Ran to Fujimiya Aya, from an open, friendly and kind young man to a cold, silent and distant assassin. _

_Or that was what I wanted the world to believe._

_In fact, Ran was still alive, deep inside my heart and beneath all the layers of ice I had wrapped around my heart to prevent I would ever be hurt again. For two years, this sociable young man had remained silent, perfectly content within the safety of the icy barriers. But from the moment I had entered this world, someone had started to pierce his way through my shield in a rather effectively way. I couldn't stop it and I was loosing control of Ran, who gradually started to take over from Aya._

_I had been alone in this dark world and suddenly, someone had turned on the lights, blinding me with it. I felt naked and vulnerable and completely helpless. Then there was this feminine voice, familiar, yet at the same time sounding completely alien to me._

_'Oh who would inhabit this bleak world alone?'_

_I didn't know. I honestly didn't know. But who was there to live together with me in my gloomy world?"_

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

They sat all together in the large, luxuous dining room. Everyone except Yohji was present. The looks on Omi's and Ken's face were enough to tell Aya that the tall, blond assassin was planning something stupid again, but he decided to ask about it later. He first needed to hear what the mission was about.

Keiko sat on a huge chair, wearing still her wet socks. Aya wondered when she was planning to change her socks, because he knew for sure she would a catch a cold if she continued wearing them. She must have felt his disapproving look, for she slipped from her chair, quietly muttering something to Omi and left the room. He guessed the wet footprints on the floor explained the rest.

"If Yohji-kun is not back over five minutes, we'll just have to start without him." Omi hopped anxiously to the window, searching the view for a spot of the flippant man. "You're sure you can't contact him, Ken-kun? I'm sure he has to be somewhere not to far away from the tower. I can still feel his presence, which means he _has_ to be within ten miles."

"Omi," Ken said with a pained voice, "I don't know if you have any idea how much a circle of ten miles is, but that covers a lot of ground with a lot of people and to be honest, I start to get a headache of all this people." The brown-haired boy was sweating profusely and he sat sprawled in his chair.

Aya wondered if there was something he could do, but he didn't ask. He hadn't been trained in using his powers, he didn't even know how far his magic went. All he knew was that he could play a bit with fire and apparently create illusions in the air. The last thing seemed to be more appropriate for Keiko's power, but he didn't think about it. As a matter of fact, he didn't care about his powers. All he wanted was to find a way back home.

Keiko returned, with dry socks and boots in her hand, and sat on her chair again. Omi turned away from the window. "I guess Yohji-kun isn't coming. Which means we four have to listen to the mission and that one of us has to inform Yohji-kun about it."

"Wait. Who's going to give us a mission then? Who knows we are here?" Ken asked as he wiped his forehead clean with a sleeve.

"You'll see," was all the young boy mysteriously said. "You'll see. Follow me."

Curiously, the other three followed him through a dim hall, which was decorated with paintings of grim looking men. Aya frowned at the sight of the last one before they went down. The man on the last painting had looked strikingly familiar to him, though it was hard to tell where he had seen him before.

"In here." Omi opened a heavy door and they all walked quietly into the room. "You'd better take a seat," the boy suggested. "It might be quite a shock for you."

Aya frowned, but did as Omi said. He could see Ken's face was one of complete bafflement, whereas Keiko appeared to be a little bit frightened. For some odd reason, he noticed he wasn't either puzzled or afraid, not even curious. He had no idea what would happen, and he didn't care about it either. Was this was Ken had meant with being too cold sometimes?

From a shadowy corner, a woman stepped further into the room. She had stunningly bright red hair, much like Aya's hair, and piercing green eyes. Her crimson hair fell down in large, elaborate curls. She wore a red silken robe and she carried an ornated crafted staff. But she was still the same Manx they knew from the other dimension.

"Manx!" Ken exclaimed with a startled gasp. "What are you doing here?!"

"As a matter of fact, I live here. But that's another story. You've come here to do a very important mission. A part of it has been told to you by the one you know as Manx in the other dimension. Here, you will get the rest of the story. Listen carefully and think of the risks involving in it before you agree to take the mission." There was a familiar directness in the way this woman acted and how she addressed them. It made them all feel a bit more comfortable. The greatest shock, however, came when a wavering colomn appeared before them.

"Weiß. There is a new mission for you. A group of Shadow Wizards is trying to create chaos and death all over the world. We have long managed to suppress them, but they have grown powerful and beyond our capacities to defeat them. As you will have noticed, you all possess a certain power. These powers of yours are higher than that of most wizards here. That is one of the reasons why you have been transported to this world.

White hunters of a dark world, destroy these dark creatures to create a better and safer place for the rest of the people." 

They all sat rigid in their chairs, but the shock had hit Omi the worst. His face had turned pale, his blue eyes were wide open and tears were running down his cheek. "This… this can't be…" His voice was filled with emotions and he trembled heavily.

Ken and Keiko both held his hand in a comforting way and Aya decided he'd better leave that to them. He wasn't good in offering comfort and someone had to listen to the extra instructions of Manx from this world.

Manx, who noticed the distraught caused by Omi, wisely decided to tell the rest to Aya. "I trust you will inform the others about this when they've calmed down."

Aya gave her a mild glare. "Of course." What was she thinking about him?

"Good. I'll leave you all alone then." She turned around and started to walk away, but Aya had a few questions for her. Since Ken and Keiko were too busy with Omi about the sudden appearance of Persia, who appeared to be alive in this dimension, he could easily ask whatever he wished to know.

"How come you are in two dimensions?" It was a bit blunt, he had to admit that, but he couldn't come up with a better introduction.

Manx stopped, but she didn't look at him. "I don't think this is the right time to discuss that." 

"I think it is. Tell me."

Manx sighed and gave in. "There are different dimensions. The one you live in and this one, however, appear to be almost parallel to each other. There are some differences, of course, but it's basically the same. That's why I'm here… as well as in the other dimension."

Aya had to think about that before he could ask his next question. "If the two dimensions are parallel, then what happened to the Weiß of this dimension?"

There was a long, disturbing silence from Manx's side, which unnerved the redhead a trifle. If she was even a bit like the Manx he knew – and she had already proven that when giving the mission – she wouldn't hesitate telling him. Unless…

Unless she thought the news would be too much for him to handle. That meant it had to be very shockingly, because otherwise he didn't see why he wouldn't be able to cope with the information. He wasn't a child anymore, after all.

"Come with me. I don't want the others to hear this." Aya nodded quietly, wondering why the rest wasn't allowed to hear it. He followed her through a door, which was hidden behind a heavy, dark curtain. The room was small and dimly lit. In the middle of the room was a large circle, with intricate symbols carved in it. Aya suspected it had to do with magic, but decided not to ask any questions about it. Or at least, not yet. Not until he knew the complete story.

"You want to know what happened with the Weiß of this dimension?" Aya nodded once. "There was never any need of an assassination group like Weiß here. And even if we had, we wouldn't be able to use you for this."

It took a while before Aya understood what was said. "Does this mean… that my sister is still alive?" Hope flared up in his eyes, but died almost immediately when he saw the look on Manx' face.

"No. I'm sorry to tell you this, Aya, but your sister is not alive. Like in your dimension, there was an explosion here. The only difference is that the Fujimiya family didn't survive it. Your sister is dead, Aya, like your parents and yourself."

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Keiko looked helplessly at Omi, then at Ken. The usually energetic and optimistic boy was crying as if his heart had been broken and it hurt Keiko to see her best friend in such agony. She understood it, it had been a shock for her as well to discover Persia was alive in this dimension. She could only vaguely begin to imagine how it was for Omi to discover his uncle was still alive.

Gradually, the sobbing became less and Omi wiped his face dry with his sleeve. "I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean to cry. It's just-"

"We can understand it," Keiko said quietly. She glanced at Ken for support and  the soccerboy nodded. "Don't worry about it." She squeezed Omi's hand gently and gave him a timid smile.

"Thank you very much," Omi said grateful. He took a deep breath  to calm himself. "I guess we'd better get ready for mission. Where's Aya-kun?"

They all looked around, surprised to find that the redhead had left them. "Perhaps he has already gone upstairs?" Keiko suggested uncertainly. 

Ken thought about it. "Possible, but then, we would've felt is presence. Well, we'll see upstairs. Perhaps he has gone searching for Yohji. Anyway, I think we all need some nice, hot drink. It's damn chilly down there."

Keiko nodded mutely, shivering at the same time. It was indeed very cold in the room, only she hadn't had the time to notice it yet, because of Omi. But now she didn't have to worry about her best friend, she could feel her bones had turned stiff from the cold. 

She welcomed the warmth of the living room with open arms and she immediately walked to the fireplace, where a fire burned cheerfully on some blocks of wood. The radiant warmth coming from the fire greeted her enthousiastically and she put her hands towards the fire.

"Umm… Keiko? Be careful not to burn yourself, will you? I've had enough trouble with Aya's wounds."

Keiko pulled her hands back with an embarrassed, little smile. "Sorry, Ken-kun. I won't burn myself." She decided to pick up a book from the huge library and to spend her time reading. There was little else for her to do. They couldn't do anything until Yohji and Aya were back.

She had read perhaps a few words when Omi entered the room with a worried expression on his face. "There's no sign of Aya here. Ken, have you already tried to contact him?"

The soccerboy shook his head. "Not yet, I wanted to wait with that until we were sure he's not here anymore." His expression grew wry. "I guess it's a bit of laziness from my side, but it honestly takes a lot of energy to search for someone with your mind."

Ken closed his eyes and Keiko watched him silently. She wished she could help Ken and Omi in finding someone, but she could feel anyone's presence or detect someone with her mind. In fact, there was very little she could do. If only she was as good as Ken or Omi when it came down to using her magic.

"Ne, Kei-chan, you can do this as well. You've just never tried it." Omi flashed a grin at the startled Keiko. "And you really ought to try to shield your mind when you're with other people in one room. Those thoughts about Aya-kun can be really distracting."

She blushed furiously. "I… I wasn't thinking about him… What about you staying out of my mind?" she retorted at a chuckling Omi. Then she smiled as well, glad to see her best friend was laughing again.

"This is weird," Ken said with a frown, obviously unaware of the conversation that had just been held. "Aya seems to be somewhere in this house, but his mind is magically blocked and I can't enter it or pinpoint the exact location where he is. Do you know if we have any rooms that are magically sealed, Omi?"

The blond boy shook his head. "Not that I know of. Well, if he's still here, he'll show up some time soon, right?"

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Long stood Aya in the small, dimly lit room after Manx had left him. The news she had told him had shocked him, and he knew he was not easily upset. He also finally understood why Yohji wasn't among them anymore and he also had a vague idea where he had to look for the tall assassin.

His thoughts went back to the conversation he had with the red-haired woman. So his family died in this world. And not only his family, but he as well. No one had survived the bomb attack, which Takatori Reiji so carefully had prepared for them. Manx had shown him illusions of the remnants of the house. They had all been brutually maimed, but he could still recognise himself and his sister. At least he had tried to protect her…

He had also asked about the others. Perhaps that news had astonished him even more than about himself. Aya admitted he was really hoping his sister would be alive in this dimension and that there was perhaps a chance of seeing her, but to hear that they had all died somehow satisfied him. 

No, it was the news about the other that had left him stunned and shocked. In his mind, Aya ran through the casualties Manx had told. He already knew that Omi had been captured when he was younger, but that Persia had saved him when his parents didn't want to pay. He also knew Omi was in fact Takatori Mamoru, Takatori Reiji's youngest son. In this realm, however, Persia had arrived to late to save the young child and Omi had been murdered by his kidnappers.

Ken was a knight of the king, son of a noble family and a promising swordsman. In fact, his life had been quite pleasant, with all the courts and training. His death, it seemed, was only an accident. When he was with a friend, a group of knights, young men as well, had challenged Ken for a duel. Ken couldn't refuse that, and although he had drank a bit too much and was quite unsteady on his legs, he had accepted the challenge. It proved to be fatal when a sword slit through his armour and through his heart.

Then there was Yohji, an orphan – was he an orphan? Aya didn't know that – who earned his money by doing odd jobs for adults, like thievery and spying. When he was fifteen, he decided to make an end of all the misery, and together with a girl, called Murase Asuka, he started an espionage network. Aya had heard some things about it before, but he had never heard the complete story. It appeared that on a mission, things went wrong, and both Yohji and Asuka were killed during their flight.

And then there was Keiko… Although Aya didn't want to admit it, it was her story that left him outraged. 

Keiko was born in a relatively rich and powerful family, the Mashishitas. Aya had always thought Keiko's surname was Hashishita, but after he had heard the story, he had already guessed she had changed her name to get rid of all the contacts with her family. Lord Mashishita was what you could call a psychopath and he desired to have only sons. Then he got Keiko.

Aya clenched his fists. Since Keiko was a girl, Lord Mashishita arranged with his family to have her beaten up every day and to make her life a complete hell. He suddenly understood her shyness against people and why she was always silent. When she was eleven, her father decided he had looked after his daughter long enough and had her killed. The assassins he had hired were pretty thorough and Keiko didn't have a chance to survive it.

If it was possible, he'd gladly kill her father with his own, bare hands. 

The redhead sighed and quietly walked back to the others. He shivered slightly, absently noting his hands were cold and so was probably the rest of his body as well. But that shouldn't be a problem for a Fire Mage, right? 

He opened the door to his own room, setting the blocks of wood on fire with a negligent wave of his hand. It would be perhaps a wise decision to start searching for his mission clothes. It was only a few hours before it was dark and they also had to find Yohji. 

Aya turned around to the closet, then froze when his eyes fell on a small, pink flower . Tenderly, he picked the flower up. It was an azalea, Azuma-kagami, to be precise. In the flower language, it would mean _take care of yourself for me_. Although there was no card or any other way to identify the person who had put this on his desk, he knew with absolute certainty it had been Keiko. She had been the only person who had been upstairs before they went to listen to their instructions. 

A slow smile crept over his face for a moment. Then he straightened his back and started looking for his mission gear.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

"Did you find any trace of Yohji?"

The three members of Weiß almost got a heart attack when Aya stood suddenly behind them. Especially Keiko, who had been completely absorbed in her study of the map of the city and the neighbourhood, gave a short startled exclaim. She cast a guilty, ashamed look at the redhead, who had so suddenly appeared behind them.

"No, not yet," Omi answered. "Ken has given up on finding him with his mind. There are just too many people in a radius of ten miles and…" The young boy glanced at Ken and his voice dropped to a whisper. "And I think he starts getting a headache of all this searching, although he doesn't want to say it."

"Hm. And what were you two doing?"

"We were trying to find Yohji with the map," Keiko blurted out. "We uhm… discovered that… if I'm concentrating on someone, there appears a light on the map." Her voice trailed off and she hid almost automatically behind her best friend.

"The only problem is, it seems," Omi added, "that mages like us can hide ourselves from other mages. With other words, Yohji is invisible to us."

Aya nodded once. "You'd better get ready for the mission. If Yohji doesn't show up, we have to do it with the four of us."

They all nodded and got up, ready to leave. Keiko glanced at the redhead and noticed he had found the flower she had put on his desk. A warm feeling filled her heart and with a little smile, she hobbled out of the room.

"Keiko?" Aya's deep voice made her turn around at the doorway and she looked questioningly at him. "See if you can mark all the taverns this town has on the map, so I can look for him." Keiko nodded mutely and wanted to turn back, but his voice held her back a second time. "And Keiko?" Another curiously glance. "Thanks for the flower."

Keiko blushed furiously and managed to mumble a 'no problem' before she fled the room. Her heart was pounding and she trembled slightly. She didn't know whether she ought to be happy that Aya knew the flower came from her. But he had thanked her. That was all that counted at the moment.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

In fast gallop, Aya rode through the dark streets of the city. In his hand was a map, with little dots of light scattered around it. Each light represented a tavern and in each tavern, there was a possibility Yohji sat there, probably drunk. Aya was grateful for the fact he could feel Yohji's presence outside the tavern, which saved him the time of getting off his horse and walk into the place.

After he had tried the taverns of the better part of the town, he moved inside the lower class district. The suspicious and hateful looks the commoners gave the young man made him quickly decide to slow down to a wary canter. His hand never left the hilt of his katana as he passed tavern after gloomy, foul smelling tavern.

A sudden tug at his mind notified him of Yohji's presence. He had descended to the worst part of the town, where criminals and cutthroats lived. How did Yohji ever manage to end up in a place like this? But there was no doubt Yohji was located in this tavern.

His horse moved restlessly and he understood the uncomfortable company of unseen eyes made his horse a little fearful. He didn't feel much either for leaving it behind, but horses were simply not allowed in an inn, not even in this part of the town.

"Don't worry," he told it quietly as he slipped down. "Nothing will happen to you." He concentrated for a moment and there was a brief flicker of the shield he had placed around his horse. No one else except for him and Yohji would be able to get near his horse. The horse snorted once, bowing his head to its master, as if it understood it was safe now.

The tavern wasn't much better inside. It reeked to spilled, stale beer, sweat, vomit and even blood. The dim light made it almost impossible to see anything at all, even with his hightened senses and sharp mage eyes. 

_Yohji__?_ He sent out a careful probing thought, while he walked carefully further into the room.

_Aya__?_ Yohji's reply was slurred and unsure, but Aya was glad the blond had at least intelligence enough to know how to reply to him.

_Where are you?_

There was a long silence, before Yohji managed to answer back to him. _Get out of here, Aya. Leave me alone._

That was the last thing Aya planned to do. The reply had been long enough to track the blond down and he walked with huge steps to the irresponsible young man. "What do you mean with that?" he hissed lowly. "Have your friends become that unimportant that you're willing to spend the rest of your life is some dark tavern? Have you sunk that low?"

Yohji didn't reply nor gave any indication he had heard Aya. The enraged Fire Mage grabbed the Water Mage at his shirt and lifted him up from his place. "You traitor."

That was enough to pull back Yohji from the drunken state he had been in. His fierce, green eyes flashed with anger and he pushed Aya away from him. "What did you call me?" His voice had dropped to a low, threatening tone.

"Traitor," Aya's deep voice repeated slowly. There was a silent contest between the redhead and the drunken blond man. Yohji finally raised his fist to smash it in Aya's face, but drunk as he was, he staggered backwards and he had would've fallen over the chair if Aya hadn't grabbed his wrist.

"Yohji, I know the story. It's sad, but this isn't the time for mourning over such things. There's a mission and if we succeed that, we can go back home."

Yohji blinked, then his expression grew one of deep guilt and sadness. "She died again, Aya. You don't know it. You don't understand it. She died. I'm responsible for her death… again."

Aya's bare hand slapped Yohji in his face and two amethyst eyes glared angrily at him. "Stop drowning in this self-pity!" He panted slightly of this outburst and regained his self-control. "We don't belong in this dimension," he continued in his normal, emotionless tone. "What happened here isn't your fault. We're only here to solve a problem."

Yohji looked away. "Do you really think so?" He let his gaze wander through the gloomy place. "Let's go, then."

Aya helped the blond getting outside. "Where's your horse?" The blank stare Yohji gave him told the redhead he had no idea of a horse anymore. He searched briefly for traces of Yohji's horse, but it ended dead at a slaughterhouse. "Never mind, your house is dead." He motioned for his own horse and the chestnut obediently approached them. It took one look at Yohji, then gazed accusingly at Aya. The redhead could not help but to smile faintly at the chestnut's malcontent of having to carry Yohji.

The unsteady blond assassin needed some help with mounting the horse, but finally they were ready to ride back to the tower.

_Ken,_ Aya sent his thought to the Earth Mage.

_What is it, Aya? Do you have problems?_

_No, no problems. I have found Yohji. See if you can find something to get him sober within an hour._ His horse glanced at him and snorted once. _And fill a bath. Yohji needs a bath._

_Understood, Aya.__ We'll see you here soon, then._

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

It was nearly midnight when the five assassins rode away from their house. If everything went well, they wouldn't return to it anymore. If everything went well, they would be back home in the dimension they belonged to. It was a rather appealing prospect to Keiko.

She glanced first at Aya, then at Yohji. The sight of the tall blond had frightened her, because she hadn't expected him to be in such a sorry state. But what surprised her even more was the mild, almost friendly way Aya had towards Yohji. And that scared her even more, because… Well, it was Aya, and he wasn't supposed to be friendly towards anyone, especially not towards Yohji. It was… scary.

The purple-haired assassin rode further on in silence. Too many things had happened today and there seemed be no time to deal with it all. Aya had told something about his past to her, they had received a mission and then Aya had thanked for her flower. How he even knew it was hers was a mystery for her. No, it wasn't really a mystery. Yohji hadn't been there, and Ken and Omi were not the kind of guys to do something subtile like that. She could've known he would figure it out before she put the azalea on his desk. Stupid, stupid her. But he had thanked her. He had liked it.

They suddenly stopped. Well, actually, for her, her horse suddenly stopped and she would've fallen of it if Aya hadn't seized for her arm to help her regain her balance. She blushed furiously when he touched her, and she was glad it was too dark for anyone to see it. When he was sure she wouldn't fall, Aya slided down from his own chestnut. 

The rest dismounted as well and Omi walked quietly to tall redhead. "Is there something wrong, Aya-kun?"

"Iya," came the terse reply. "We walk the rest. Horses make too much noise. Besides, we won't need them anymore after we complete the mission." He turned to his own chestnut, removing the bridle and saddle, then gently pushed the horse towards the forest. The horse hesitated, seeming reluctant to leave his cold master and there was a communication between the two that didn't need any words. Keiko was touched by the care of the young man about the horses.

"Remove all the things of your horse. They'll follow the chestnut." Cold and distant as ever. Keiko sighed and did as she was told.

"Still a pity," Yohji murmeled, while he passed a hand over his forehead. The drink Ken had given the blond had made him sober, like Aya had requested. The after-effects of drinking too much, however, like having hangovers, weren't affected by the drink. Keiko giggled softly. Ken was sure sometimes a cruel guy, to do something like this.

"They would be in the way. They're better off now." Aya didn't even bother to add 'Let's go' to his short speech, but simply started walking towards the huge building. Keiko hobbled obediently after him, with Omi walking next to her.

"I wonder what these Shadow Wizards look like," Keiko confessed quietly to the genki young boy next to her.

"Probably just like us," Omi said confidently. "What else should they look like?"

Keiko didn't reply immediately. Glimpses of amorphous, spectral creatures dwelling in murky places flashed through her mind. They had no faces, no limbs, nothing that could identify them as human beings. She glanced at Omi, who still walked further with no trace of anxiety on his face. The others also appeared unconcerned, which meant only she had seen it. She bit her lip and hobbled a bit faster, until she walked next to Aya.

"Aya-kun?"

"Hm?"

"The creatures we're going to fight aren't human," she blurted out before she lost all her courage she had just scraped together.

Aya gave her a quick look. "How do you know that?" he demanded.

"I… eh… I've seen them." Now she had said the most important thing to Aya, bashfulness took her over again. "I… I caught a few glimpses of what they look like in my head."

"They could be wrong. We'll see when we're there. It's not like we can go back now." Keiko stared mutely to the ground. He didn't want to believe her. It hurt her deeply. Then she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, and it wasn't Omi, who always used to that. She looked puzzled up and Aya looked as if he wanted to say something, but he finally decided to remain silent. He squeezed softly her shoulder, then walked further.

"They're all there," Omi pointed out when they were inside. "That makes things a lot easier. All we have to do is to head to that part of the building, burst into the room and eliminate them all."

"I don't understand it," Yohji confessed, squinting at the map. "Why would they all be in one room? And why that particular room?" Although the blond had been briefly informed about their mission, they didn't have the time to tell him everything.

"According to the information Manx had given us, the Shadow Wizards can't stand sunlight," Ken explained. "I think you can compare them to vampires. When they meet the sunlight… POOF! They're gone."

"It's because they _are_ shadows," Keiko said quietly. From the moment they had entered the building, more glimpses had flashed through her mind and she was quite sure of it now. "When the sunlight falls upon them, they vanish, because then there's no longer a shadow." They all stared blankly at her. "At least… that's what I think will happen," she confessed timidly.

"Well, that makes things even easier," Yohji remarked sarcastically. "What are we waiting for?" He rose to his feet, idly testing the strength of his wire. "Let's bring in some light to those creatures."

"Wait!" Omi looked at the purple-haired assassin. "Do you know something else about them before we attack them?"

"Well…" She hesitated. "Their powers are about ten times greater at night than during the day."

"It doesn't matter," Aya decided. "We're going." He got also up and the rest followed his example. In complete silence, he led them to the room.

They were sinister, dark, and horrible. There were five of them, scattered through the room, mixing with the current shadows or glibbering over the walls and ceiling to dark places. There was hardly any light, but they made enough slithering noise to locate them.

The five assassins of Weiß stood transfixed to the ground. It was as if a spell had been cast upon them, that let fear creep into their hearts. But Aya shook it away and barked, "Keiko! Create light!" The Fire Mage lifted a hand and a flaring colomn of fire shot through the gloomy room.

Aya's voice brought her back to reality and she flushed slightly for not thinking of it herself. As she had explained not that long ago, the shadows couldn't stand light. And light was, after all, her element.

The Light Mage rose her hand as well, and a radiating glow surrounded her, intensifying with the second. The rest broke free from their spell as well, grabbing for their weapons or using their magic. Keiko let the bright light fill the room. She couldn't use it for offensive meanings, but she could make it impossible for the Shadow Wizards to find a shadowy place to hide.

The Shadow Wizards shrieked with pain, as light threatening to evaporate them. Aya continued casting beams of fire to the creatures, and the other three had started to use their powers as well. Trees, plants and forest animals appeared out of nowhere, the Air Mage tried to blow up walls and the Water Mage created huge streams to wash away the Shadow Wizards of the room. Keiko had nearly covered the whole room with her purple light and their opponents started to panic.

POOF! One by one, the dark Wizards exploded into nothingness. When the last one disappeared, a tear formed itself in the middle of the room. It was the portal they needed to go back to their own dimension.

It wavered and flickered. "Get through the portal," Aya commanded calmly at the rest. "I'll keep it open."

"Aya-kun! You can't do that! What if it closes before you can get through?" Omi protested.

"It won't. Move!" Without waiting for more protest, he pushed the young boy through the dimension portal. Omi stumbled into it and disappeared. "Ken. Your turn." Ken nodded and closed his eyes. Then he ran into the rip. Yohji followed as soon as the dark boy was gone.

"Keiko. Go."

She wanted to protest, but Aya's piercing eyes made it impossible for her to speak. She nodded slightly, bracing herself for the impact as she walked towards the dimension portal. Before she stepped through it, she turned around. "Be careful." She gave him a nervous, little smile, then let herself fall into the tear before he could reply.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

There was a sun shining brightly on his face and Aya could hear faintly birds singing outside. He was lying on a bed and that, together with the pain in his head, brought memories back of his first day awake in a new environment.

But when he opened his eyes, he saw he was no longer in the luxurious room he had slowly grown accustomed to. Instead of dark green, velvet curtains, a marble floor and wooden desks, Aya looked at the austerity of his own room at the small flowershop. Strangely enough, it felt good to know he was back home.

There was a light tap at his door, followed by Ken's head sticking around the corner. "Ah, I see you've finally decided to wake up," the dark boy said lightly with a broad grin. "Are you planning on falling on your head every time you're travelling between two dimensions? Or at least be unconscious for several days?"

"Hn," Aya replied absently, pushing himself up. There appeared to be no serious injuries, only a throbbing headache. "What happened?"

"Well, like I said, you came back from that other dimension and you fell on your head. You probably suffer from a concussion, so you'd better stay in bed the coming week, perhaps two."

Aya scowled at him. He wasn't serious about that, was he? Ken saw the look on the redheaded assassin and came quickly in defense. "Hey, it's for your own good. If you don't take it easy, you'll probably suffer from headaches the rest of your life."

Aya decided he didn't _care_ about headaches. He would _not_ stay in bed for two weeks.

"Well, anyway, would you want me to get something?"

"No."

"You're sure? You've been unconscious for three days. You must be thirsty."

Ken was right, Aya grudgingly admitted. "Water." 

"If you want water, you shall get water, my best friend," Ken said cheerfully, and a bit too flowery for Aya's taste. The stay in that other dimension _definitely_ had some bad effects on the dark boy. The redhaired assassin hoped the rest would behave a bit more rationally.

The others were, to his relieve, indeed more rationally and even Ken wasn't that bad. As Omi explained, the soccerboy simply had some times of poetical ingenuity and he used that to annoy the others. The day passed on with short visits of the other members – all except Keiko came. Aya began to worry about the absence of the quiet, purple-haired girl and although he hated to admit it, he missed her.

The sun had already begun to set when he heard a timid tap on the door. Aya looked up, with a short "Come in" as invitation. The door opened a bit and Keiko slipped shyly inside.

"I um… I wanted to know how you were doing," she started apologizing, but Aya cut her off.

"It's alright. You're always welcome." Keiko blushed like a red rose and a bit unsure, she started fidgeting with her shirt. "You can take a seat, if you want," Aya suggested. After the story he had heard of Manx, even if it was in another dimension, had given the necessary explanation why Keiko was shy and quiet most of the time. He had chosen for it. She was literary beaten into it. But, Aya promised himself, he would teach her how to be open and less frightened.

"Uh… Hn…" Keiko nodded and scanned nervously the room. There were a few chairs, which he usually used for reading books, and she already moved to one of them to pull it closer to his bed. Aya, however, had other plans.

"You can sit here, if you want." He moved over to make some room for Keiko on his bed. She blushed even more, but she did as he suggested.

Silence fell in the room, since neither of them knew what to say. There was almost nothing to say. They could talk about the weather, but that'd provide a five-minute conversation. Besides, it was getting dark outside, so there was not much to talk about it.

"What really happened, Aya-kun?" Keiko suddenly asked in a subdued voice. "After I went through the dimension portal, I mean."

Aya stared in thought through the window. What had really happened? He wouldn't know. Omi had filled in on what happened when he fell through the dimension portal back in this world. But he had only a vague idea of what really happened.

"The portal was starting to close right after you disappeared," he finally said, letting his thoughts wander through the haze of memories. "It was sort of what I expected. From what I understand, dimension portals are instable and small. That's why I insisted on having you four going through it first. I wanted to have you on the safe side."

_"There's no way out now," a hissing voice said from behind him. "The portal is closing and all your friends have left you behind. Now you will become one like us."_

_I turned around to watch at a dark, hazy figure standing right behind me. I recognised it as one of the Shadow Wizards, but that wasn't possible. They had been all destroyed. Right?_

_The creature laughed. "You fool. You think you can eliminate us. But as long as there is light, there are shadows. You provided a perfect hiding place for us, friend." More and more slithering and hissing sounds emerged from my own shadow._

_I took a few steps back, drawing nearer towards the closing portal. It was futile, the Shadow Wizards simply moved along with me. I cast a glance over my shoulder. It wasn't _completely_ futile. Yet. If I only could use my power to hold the portal open…_

_"Welcome to our group… Fire Mage!"_

_A Shadow Wizard leaped forward, but I quickly raised a shield of fire. Dimmed cries of agony and choking sounds reached my ears, but I ignored them. The portal was almost gone now. In a desperate attempt, I hurled all the power I possessed towards it, then pushed myself through it, with only one thought flashing through my mind._

_Keiko…_

"Aya-kun? Are you alright?" Two big, sad, red eyes looked up at him and Aya nodded once.

"I managed to use my power to hold the portal open," the redhead continued matter-of-factly. "I walked through it and I ended up here. That's what happened." He had decided she wasn't ready for the whole truth. In fact, he didn't know if he was prepared to handle what happened after he was left alone by his friends.

He pushed Keiko away, and laid down. "I'm tired. Leave me alone." A brief glance on Keiko's face told him all her hopes were suddenly crushed and he smiled faintly to himself. She had no idea yet what waited for her in her own room.

"Okay. Sleep well, Aya-kun." Disappointed, the purple-haired assassin turned around and shuffled away. Aya waited silently for a few moments, then got up to follow her.

He opened the door to her room and peeked inside. In her hands, she held a small flower arrangement, consisting of a red rose, a purple lilac, petunia, primrose, blue violet, hydrangea and the same azalea she had used for him. He was almost certain she would get the message.

Keiko slowly turned around to gaze up at him and he permitted himself to give a small smile while he walked slowly towards her. "I hope you don't mind," he said softly, reaching out to touch her hair. Keiko's eyes widened even more with surprise and a little, timid smile formed on her lips as she leaned closer to him.

"I don't mind it," she confessed quietly. "It's something I've always hoped for."

Then, without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. With great care and tenderness, he kissed her on her lips. Keiko turned bright red, but she did her best to copy his movements.

After what seemed an eternity, he forced himself to say the words that had been on his heart for a very long time – only he hadn't been aware of them. "I love you, Keiko."

She gave him a radiant smile and hugged him closely. "I… I love you too… Aya-kun."

Aya smiled, knowing that, after all those years of waiting in his own, bleak world, he had finally found his Light and love. He tucked a small flower in her purple hair, a Baby's breath, sign for everlasting love. And then he kissed her again.

**T H E   E N D**

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

_red__ rose_ = I love you

_purple__ lilac_ = first love

_petunia_ = your presence soothes me

_primrose_ = I can't live without you

_blue__ violet_ = I'll always be true

_hydrangea_ = thank you for understanding

_azalea_ = take of yourself for me

_baby's__ breath_ = everlasting love


End file.
